Extra cash didn’t produce results

Hastings Observer letters

Published:13:54Thursday 23 November 2017

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From: Eric Waters

Ingleside Crescent Hastings

Last year the county’s police and crime commissioner, Katy Bourne, wanted to increase the police’s share of council tax by 3.4 per cent, equating to £5 per year for Band D households, saying that this had been supported by 65 per cent of respondents in a poll.

That percentage, by the way, represented just 2,430 out of our county’s population of 1,600,000 – hardly a ringing endorsement.

2017 is no different as Ms. Bourne has now launched a county-wide consultation to ask the public if they would be prepared to pay more for policing in Sussex.

However, it would appear that last year’s extra ‘fiver’ didn’t produce the desired results because, according to a recent statement by the Chief Constable, Sussex Police are arresting fewer people, spending less time investigating and more crimes are going unsolved; there was also an 11 per cent increase in crime across Sussex between September 1, 2016, and August 31, 2017, which equated to 11,000 more instances of law-breaking.

It would appear that last year’s extra money has had little effect but, in her latest newsletter, Ms. Bourne said that, thanks to the money we have already contributed, Sussex Police has been able to build its capacity and capabilities to deliver a more effective and efficient service to the public.

Perhaps someone can explain to me how an extra 11,000 crimes can be a sign of, I quote, “a more effective and efficient service to the public”?